I don‘t want to gross you out, but your keyboard might have poop on it. I mean the one you’re using now.

And your mouse.  Yup that one. Gross.

Some studies have shown keyboards could even have 60x more ewwww in the form of dirt and bacteria such as e-coli, than a toilet seat.  That’s 150x more than the acceptable limit for bacteria levels according to keepingitkleen.com.

And you don’t even want to know what’s on your cell phone, I’m shuddering just thinking about it.

We clean our houses, but how many of us clean our computers?  After the yuck I just threw at you, I’m going to guess it’s on your list of things to do this weekend. Here's what you need to do for a general keyboard and laptop clean up, and luckily it doesn't cost a lot of money, or time, or need a bunch of special supplies to get it done.

  Your Toolkit

You’ll need a few things for this cleanup job, luckily most of them are items we have around the house already.

Compressed air - One thing you should have in your laptop / PC cleaning arsenal, is a can of compressed air. You can pick one of these up at any big box store in the electronics section. Compressed air gets cold, like really cold, so you’ll want to make sure you keep this out of reach of the kids.

Disinfecting wipes
Rubbing alcohol
Q-Tips
Microfiber electronic cleaning cloth
Distilled water
Household sanitizing wipes
High-tech cleaning compounds

Step 1: Assess the Situation and Turn Everything Off

Whether you are cleaning because of an accidental coffee meets keyboard type situation, or because I gave you the heebie jeebies with all of my germ talk, first things first, you need to turn your PC or laptop off, and unplug it from the wall before we start talking about any kind of cleaning.   

If you have a spill situation, turn your keyboard/laptop upside down immediately and shake as much liquid out as you can. Keeping your keyboard upside down, grab a towel and dry the key area as much as possible. Leave it upside down on top of a towel overnight (or longer) to try and get it completely dried out.  Once you’re confident it’s dry, try turning it on. Hopefully it turns right on for you.  If you have a sticky keyboard you may want to take it in to have it professionally cleaned or repaired but if you’re one of the lucky ones, you can thank your lucky stars and move onto step 2 with the rest of us germaphobes.

Step 2: Shake and Spray

Get that can of compressed air ready, because it’s time to get the dust out of that keyboard. Flip it upside down and gently shake it. You’ll be surprised at the amount of dust and dirt that falls out of it. Then, take your can of compressed air and gently spray the keyboard from different angles.  Remember, compressed air is pressurized, so keep the spray far enough away that you won’t do damage to your keyboard. Also, make sure you don’t spray it on your skin or in your face. It will freeze your skin.

If you don’t have compressed air you can use your hairdryer on the cold blower setting only. Do NOT use heat.  Melting heat = electronics nightmare. You have been warned.

If you’re super adventurous, you can try and pop your keys off with a screwdriver to get better access with the compressed air. Just remember to take a picture of your keyboard first so you can remember which keys go where.

Step 3: Rub and Wipe

Dip your Q-tips into the rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol. They should be damp, not dripping or soaking wet. (Remember what I said about heat and electronics before? Moisture is just as bad – if not worse.)  Gently rub the sides of the keys with the Q-tip. This will get the sticky gunk off and disinfect the sides of the keys.

Take a disinfecting wipe, wring it out until it’s just damp. Gently rub the top of the keys with the wipe. Once clean, they need to dry. Usually air drying will be enough (especially if you only used a damp Q-Tip like I recommended), but you can always wipe them with a microfiber cloth to dry them off further if they don’t seem to be air drying quickly enough.

Step 4: Clean the Screen

Do not – I repeat – do not use window cleaners or paper towels to clean your screen.  

Window cleaning solutions contain ammonia and alcohol which can degrade your screen surface, and paper towels can scratch the surface. If you feel the urge to use liquid I recommend distilled water in a spray bottle. Spritz the water onto a microfiber cloth (a clean old t-shirt will substitute nicely), and gently (no need to press) rub the screen.   Never spray liquid directly on electronics.

Note: You should always spot check cleansers on a corner of your screen to make sure they don’t damage your screen prior to wiping the whole thing.

Now that your screen and keyboard are clean. We’ll do a quick clean of the housing of your laptop. Desktop computer owners can skip to the end.

Step 5: Housing and Track Pad

Take a clean corner of an old t-shirt, and wet it until it’s damp (wring it out, make sure it’s just damp.) Wipe the outside of the laptop with the damp t-shirt, and do the same with the track pad. It’s that easy!

So there you have it, 5 steps to a cleaner laptop or keyboard.

If you share space with someone you should clean your keyboard frequently to help avoid getting a viral infection.

The same general guidelines for cleaning can be used for your cell phone as well – just watch the amount of moisture you use on your wipes and Q-tips.

A special note about iPads and other touch screen devices...they generally don’t need cleaning fluids. Most of them have oleophobic coatings on the screens that repel the oils left from your fingers. You’ll have to use a microfiber cloth to get rid of the rest of the dirt.

So, what do you think? Do you worry about the cleanliness of your devices? Do you have any other laptop, keyboard or smartphone cleaning tips?